Red Cross returns man seized by Israel to Lebanon

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday returned to Lebanon a man seized by Israel amid its wars with Hezbollah, a Lebanese military source said.

In its last round of negotiations with Israel in August, Lebanon demanded the release of a first batch of people seized from Lebanese territory since the start of the 2024 war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, a Lebanese official told AFP at the time.

Lebanese authorities have not officially announced the number of citizens held by Israel during that war and a subsequent 2026 war between the two sides, but a list of more than 30 people has been compiled by their families and a committee following up on their cases.

The Lebanese military source said on condition of anonymity that the ICRC handed over to them a Lebanese man that the Israeli military had previously seized.

Hachem Osseiran, ICRC spokesperson for the Middle East, told AFP that "a humanitarian operation is currently underway".

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency later identified the man as Malek Ghazi, adding that he was taken to an army intelligence headquarters in the southern city of Tyre after his handover.

Ghazi's family, hailing from the southeastern town of Ain Ata, near the southern border village of Shebaa, said in October last year that they had lost contact with him after he had gone out to exercise.

He is the first citizen held by Israel to be released since the beginning of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in April.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam hailed the release in a statement, thanking "the American administration... for the efforts exerted in this regard".

Salam pledged to continue working "until the release of all our prisoners, the disclosure of the fate of the missing, and the achievement of a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory".

Hezbollah in 2023 attacked Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza, leading to over a year of hostilities that escalated into a full-blown war in 2024.

Two years later, it drew Lebanon into the regional Middle East war in support of its backer Iran by launching rockets at Israel.

Israel responded with heavy air strikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.

Violence has dropped since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding in June and a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon later that same month.

The Lebanon-Israel deal calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in "pilot zones".

A date has not yet been set for the next round of talks, and Israel still carries out strikes on Lebanon while occupying parts of its territory.